Film fans spellbound by Potter

POTTERMANIA swept Britain at the weekend as thousands of people queued at cinemas across the country to book advance tickets for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The eagerly anticipated film, which stars Daniel Radcliffe, an 11-year-old newcomer, as Harry, with veteran British stars such as Richard Harris, Dame Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane, is officially released on November 16.

The £110 million production is adapted from the first of J K Rowling's enormously popular books about the adventures of Harry Potter, an orphan who escapes from a life of drudgery by becoming a student at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

UCI Cinemas sold 10,000 tickets in the first hour of making them available to the public. The company's central box office, which usually has 100 active telephone lines, has had to open an extra 300.

The ticket offices opened on Friday and within hours, Vicki Locke, a spokesman for UCI cinemas, said: "The response has been fantastic. Sales show that Harry Potter has really captured the imagination of the nation.

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"There are a lot of people, particularly parents on behalf of children, queuing up outside our box offices for tickets. We expect ticket sales for Harry Potter to build, day on day, as more people learn that tickets are available."

The Odeon cinemas call centre has already taken more than 20,000 inquiries over the past month, many from corporate customers wanting to book the entire Leicester Square cinema for their employees. Their preview screenings sold out by Friday afternoon.

Ron Hanlon, the marketing director of Odeon Cinemas, said: "We were expecting a tremendous response from the public, but the reaction so far has been unprecedented."

Customs House cinema in South Shields, South Townside, sold more than 2,000 tickets last week. Richard Flood, the theatre manager of the independent cinema, said: "People have been queuing to buy advance tickets. We have had 15 school bookings already. It is unbelievable. There is something very strange about Harry Potter.

"This film is definitely going to be the biggest family film ever. Toy Story 2 was big, but it never sold this many advance bookings. It is absolutely unprecedented." Special previews of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone will take place at cinemas across the country on November 10 and 11, after the London premiere at Odeon Leicester Square on November 4.

The film is expected to have an "edgy and moody" feel. Christopher Colombus, the director, earlier this year promised that the film would not be anything like his previous films, Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire, adding: "It feels good to get back to the dark part of my soul."

A month after the film is released, it will be locked in battle with Fellowship of the Ring, the first of three films based on The Lord of the Rings, the cult book by J R Tolkien, which is due to be released on 19 December. The three Lord of the Rings films, starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Sean Bean, were shot over 483 days and cost £180 million to produce.